Almost Home
by missysillivan
Summary: They would say nothing, and for that, they were brutally tortured. That didn't mean that they would be giving up that easily.


**Almost Home**

Summary: They would say nothing, and for that, they were brutally tortured. That didn't mean that they would be giving up that easily.

_Okay, so my first fanfic for the FFVII fandom – let me know how I did, as I'm well aware I probably got something wrong, haha. This is just my idea of what happened between the time Elena and Tseng were taken by Kadaj and his brothers and when they reappeared at the end of the movie. This isn't really a pairing, per say, but I guess if you squinted you could see it._

Disclaimer: I, Missysillivan, do not, have not, and never will own Final Fantasy VII.

**Edited: 3/31/2011**

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"Tseng! Look at this!"

_"Hm...pay dirt."_

_"Not a pretty sight, is it?"_

"_Who cares? Just get the damn thing."_

"_Reno, the chopper."_

"_You got it"' A chopper's whirl._

_**Bang. Bang.**_

_"Whoa! Whoa!"_

"_Reno, hurry!" -Crash- "Reno!"_

"_Who the hell is that?" Another crash._

_**Bang!**__ "Ah-"_

_"Elena!"_

_**Bang. Bang. Bang.**_

_"G-Get out!"_

_**Bang. Bang.**_

_"Damn it."_

_**Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.**_

He opened his eyes, despite the fact that he wished to just lay there and die as if nothing else mattered. The only thing registering in his mind, at the moment, was the excruciating pain shooting up and down his body in relentless waves. His clothing was scrapped, leaving little to fight against the cold of the harsh winter wind that continuously billowed through the small cave that he was being held within.

A whimper to his right pulled him back to the present; a whimper that was followed by the grating of rustic steel being forced closed.

Drearily, he opened his dark eyes, only to find the form of his blonde haired comrade. She was holding her stomach in pain and biting down on her lip, causing it to bleed only more, as she fought back the need to scream. Her ribs, from what he could see through her tattered shirt, were heavily bruised and the skin on the side of her abdomen was a darker shade than what a regular bruise was supposed to look like.

'Internal bleeding...' his mind subconsciously concluded.

How long had it been since they were brought here?

A day?

Two?

A week?

Maybe more?

He wasn't sure anymore.

All that he knew was that if they didn't get out soon, they were both going to die.

"Elena..." He whispered through painfully chapped lips, sticking out an even drier tongue to moisten them a bit. "Elena." He tried again; his voice more steady and not as forced.

Another whimper was his response as she tried to shift closer towards his voice.

"Elena, answer me." He was trying to stay on this side of consciousness.

"T-Tseng..." She whispered, green eyes blearily looking in the general direction that his form should be located, telling by the sound of his voice. "I didn't...say...anything..."

He couldn't stop the frown from forming on his face at her words. At this point, he didn't care if she let the littlest thing slip. At the rate that they were being attacked, he didn't think that she would be able to survive another session with the three brothers.

Pushing that thought aside for the moment, he crawled to her side and helped her roll onto her back to help her breathe better.

"T-They...they...kn-know..." She whispered, clutching her side as she struggled to just take _one_ steady breath.

"I know." He replied, propping himself forward with one hand while looking over the rest of her body. He could already tell that the bullet wound she received at the Northern Crater was becoming infected; it was swollen and red around the hole and there was already the first signs of discharged forming. If it didn't get treated soon, things were going to only get worse. "But there is nothing we can do at the moment."

"Do you think...think...th-that Reno and R-Rude can handle...th-them...?" She was fighting to stay awake. While the pain was keeping her from getting any real rest, the need to stay conscious was almost the only comfort that she was alive and still breathing.

"I'm sure they can." He pushed her bloodied blonde hair away from her forehead and wiped some sweat from the pale skin. This had been the first time that he truly noticed her persistent shivering, which he could tell, wasn't coming from the cold. "Did they try anything?..." She closed her eyes and fought against the whimper. He frowned further, an idea already coming to mind about what they could have possibly done to her.

"Did they..." She shook her head no. "Good."

She wrapped her arms around her chest and bit further into her lower lip. "No more."

He nodded, feeling the same way, before lying beside her and pulling her into his arms. "Just a little longer. Just a little longer." They shouldn't have to go through this. 'God, let it be over soon!'

_"Where is Mother?"_

_Silence._

_"Say something! Where is Mother?"_

_More silence._

_Smack!_

_"Speak!"_

_"Where is Mother? Where are you hiding her?"_

_"We will kill you friend if you don't speak."_

_A crash as the body hit the wall like a dead weight._

_"Don't test me."_

_"..."_

_"Damn it!"_

When he was thrown back into the cell, the first thing that registered in his mind was that it was suddenly much colder than it had been before he was taken away. Catching his breath, he slowly made his way over to his comrade, who hadn't moved since just before the three 'Mother' obsessed brothers came in the last time.

"Elena." He whispered and got no response. He shook her shoulder gently and she let out a soft groan of protest as her already damaged organs were moved once again. "Elena, wake up."

Green eyes fluttered a moment before the current situation seemed to have dawned on her and she let out a terrified gasp.

"Calm down. It's just me. Tseng. Elena, calm down." He soothed her with a hand on her shoulder and his other catching her chin to force her to look at him.

"Ts-Tseng...w-what?..." She had yet to fully grasp everything as her mind played catch up.

"I heard their bikes pull out after they brought me back." He informed her.

The first, of several, tears to come escaped her, but, like always, she didn't sob; only had a moment and then she was done. He noticed the signs, she was beginning to give up. While he was in pretty bad shape, and if they _were_ able to escape, and in the condition he was in now, he wouldn't be able to get farther then a couple of yards before he would have to rest for the night, he was nothing compared to the state she was in. At this point, he could only imagine her pain. But that didn't mean he was going to let her give up, even if it meant that she was going to have continue her suffering and torture.

They _would_ be rescued.

He just _knew_ it.

Or maybe he was just _fooling_ himself.

Either way, she _wasn't_ going to give up just yet.

Several hours had passed and he was pushing his luck on staying awake. The female beside him had been in and out of consciousness the entire time and had barely been able to have a coherent thought.

Sounds outside their prison alerted him immediately that they were not alone. He couldn't believe that it was the brothers; he had never heard their bikes approaching. There was a wisp of red several hundred yards away, a call sign that a presence wanted to make themselves known, but not seen, and only to the people that they wanted to know. But it wasn't the sign, or the fact that there was some one there to help them possibly, that had him smirking. No. It was the fact that, that particular red flap belonged to a former comrade from many, many years ago.

"How did you know we were here?" He asked as he sat up, slowly, painfully.

"I have my ways."

"Mysterious as always, Vincent."

"Hn."

He watched as the rustic door was opened easily by the demonic man. Vincent swiftly went to the blonde's side and knelt down beside her.

"I have materia at a clearing a little ways away from here. It should hold you both over until you get to ShinRa."

He nodded his head and watched as Vincent easily lifted his comrade before getting him around the waist. Vincent moved with a speed he hardly remembered the ex-Turk ever having, and in no time, they had made it to his specified clearing. He watched as Vincent swiftly, but only partially, healed both himself and her with the glowing orbs, known as materia, before moving to the edge of the clearing.

"There is a truck twenty yards out, north east of here. Get to it and leave immediately, before Kadaj and his gang return."

He nodded and glanced briefly at her before looking back to his old "friend". "Thank you."

Vincent nodded sharply and left the clearing near silently.

It took a little time to get himself and his comrade to the truck, but once they arrived, he wasted no time loading them both in and speeding off towards the nearest ShinRa building with a medical ward.

He heard a soft groan followed by, "Tseng?"

"Don't worry, we're on our way home."

She nodded and fell back into unconsciousness.

_"We're almost home..."_


End file.
